This Love
by AgentCarter
Summary: Based on the Maroon 5 song 'This Love'. House gets a high at the hospital and Cuddy has to find the right way to deal with him.


**I know some of you are waiting for more of Reunion (hoping to have the next chapter up by the end of the week!) but had a bit of a dry spell and this is where this came from. Was listening to a bit of Maroon 5 and I thought I'd use a few of the lyrics to do a little oneshot. It's probably been done to death by now but here we go. Takes place between series 4 and 5.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own House or This Love by Maroon 5**

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_**I was so high I did not recognise**_

_**The fire burning in her eyes**_

_**The chaos that controlled my mind.**_

"House!"

Cuddy strode into House's office, finding him sprawled on the floor and a scowl consumed her features as he rolled his head slightly to look at her. She stood above him, hands on her hips and anger in her eyes.

"House!" She shouted at him again and he smiled lazily up at her. "Are you high?" she hissed.

"Take another step closer," he whispered at her, a grin still on his face.

She didn't move and instead raised a confused eyebrow. "What?"

"One more step and I can see up your skirt…"

She ignored him and instead took a step back. She spotted the empty Vicodin bottle lying by his feet and she could feel the anger burning through her. "How many pills did you take?" She asked through gritted teeth as his head lolled back and forth.

"Enough, Cuddy. Enough." He rolled onto his side and made an attempt to stand up, his arms collapsing under him and he laughed while Cuddy pursed her lips. He sat up and Cuddy could see that his eyes were unfocused as he held a hand out to her. She removed her hands form her hips, crossing them on her chest and glared down at him.

"Cripple." He pointed to his thigh then reached out to the desk and pulled himself slowly to his feet.

"Get one of your team to take you home." Cuddy told him sternly. "Then I want you in my office tomorrow morning." She watched him sway from side to side as he tried his best to focus on her.

"We don't have to wait until tomorrow, Cuddles, you can have me now, in _my_ office if you like," he smirked at her and she suppressed the urge to growl.

"Go home and we'll talk about this tomorrow. Nine AM sharp." With that she spun on her heel and walked to the door. Once she was out the room, she turned in time to see House go to sit in his chair but failing miserably and landing in the floor with a chuckle. She frowned and headed to the nurse's station to page one of his team.

_**And her heart is breaking in front of me**_

_**I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore**_

"Well?" Cuddy was sat behind her desk, the glare from the previous day still on her face, as House sat lazily in the chair opposite her.

He shrugged and she felt the urge to scream. "Well what?"

"Getting high at the hospital is grounds for dismissal – "

"We both know you won't fire me, Cuddy, so why are we even doing this?"

She let put a breath before speaking. "No, I won't fire you, but if the board were to find out…"

"What's to find out? I'm this hospitals _best_ doctor and I happen to be in constant pain and in need of narcotics to get through the day."

"You were HIGH!" She screeched and he flinched slightly.

"As much as I like to hear to hear you scream, this is in the completely wrong context," he told her and she gave a small growl. "Ooh, that's sexy too. Do you do that a lot?"

"House," she said tiredly, "have you spoken to him."

House's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't been expecting her to change the tone and conversation so soon. He leaned back in his chair, twirling his cane and acting nonchalant. "Have I spoken to who?"

"You know who." He shook his head, playing dumb. "Wilson. Have you spoken to him?" She asked him and he could make out the concern in her eyes.

House stopped twirling his cane and proceeded to tap it against the carpeted floor, studying it as it bounced. "No." He told her simply.

Cuddy drew in a breath. "That's what yesterday was about wasn't it." It was a statement, not a question but she knew he would deny it. She gave a sad smile as he shook his head.

He looked up and their eyes met. "I have my good and bad days, Cuddy. Yesterday just happened to be a bad one. I'm not going to say it won't happen again because I honestly don't know. Whether Wilson was here or not…"

Cuddy stared at him, unsure of what to say and the emotion in her eyes made him look back down and study his cane. He hated when she did that but he accepted it. He considered her an equal and she was the only one there for him now. Wilson wanted nothing to do with him anymore and Cuddy had remained by his side throughout the whole ordeal. And he was grateful for that but now he was cursing himself for almost ruining it and putting her in such a position. He enjoyed pushing her but he didn't want to push her so far that she would disappear. He didn't want to have to say goodbye to another friend.

"House," her voice was soft and he looked up at her giving her a shake of his head.

"You're reading too much into this, Cuddy. Wilson's gone, I'm in pain. They're unrelated incidences that occurred at the same time." He rose from his seat and headed towards the door.

Cuddy tried again. "House, please – "

"Just forget it ever happened, Cuddy." And with that he was gone, trying to shake the image of a heartbroken Cuddy.


End file.
